Last week brought news that Patrick Stewart’s return to Star Trek will officially arrive in late 2019. Following this announcement, executive producer, Alex Kurtzman teased what fans can expect when the Star Trek: The Next Generation captain resumes his role as Jean-Luc Picard.
Kurtzman’s involvement with the Star Trek universe dates back to 2009, when he co-wrote J.J. Abrams’ first two Star Trek films. Currently, Kurtzman serves as the showrunner on CBS All Access’ Star Trek: Discovery. While speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Kurtzman explained that the currently untitled Picard series will tonally stand apart from what has come before. “It’s an extremely different rhythm than Discovery,” said Kurtzman. “Discovery is a bullet. Picard is a very contemplative show. It will find a balance between the speed of Discovery and the nature of what Next Gen was, but I believe it will have its own rhythm.”
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EW is careful to note that even though Kurtzman refers to the new series as Picard, it’s highly unlikely that this is the actual title. The official name will almost certainly mention Star Trek in some way. Additionally, the producer divulged that the series’ writing staff has thus far “broken about eight episodes.” He also promised that some of these episodes will reveal what Picard has been up to since the character’s last appearance.
“Without revealing too much about it, people have so many questions about Picard and what happened to him, and the idea we get to take time to answer those questions in the wake of the many, many things he’s had to deal with in Next Gen is really exciting,” said Kurtzman. “‘More grounded’ is not the right way to put it, because season 2 of Discovery is also grounded. It will feel more…real world? If that’s the right way to put it.”
What are your thoughts on a grounded, real-world take on Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!
